Silence
by Ryder Bellamiren
Summary: A tribute to a Snake that doesn't get enough attention! Hope you all enjoy this. Rated K because I say so.


**A/N:** A drabble dedicated to our favorite Snake!

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Sev or anyone else. This purely for fun!

_Severus Snape, a name that is mocked by some and beloved by others. The man himself does not care what others think. Lily's opinion was the only one that mattered and she is gone from this world. All that remains of her is that emerald-eyed brat she had with the man he had loathed above all others before the Dark Lord. _

* * *

He brooded this night, cold and as bitter as the wind that whipped his cloak away from his body, revealing a slender, well-crafted frame.

Lily's voice often sought him out around this particular time of year, the day when the veils between worlds thinned.

_Severus _whispered the wind to his ears. He knew he was hallucinating but this was his time with Lily, bring him back to days when that voice had comforted his hurts and eased his pain. _Severus, I forgave you long ago for your mistake. I cannot forgive what you have done to my son. He is mine as well as James' and you __**knew**__ that!_ Tremors shook his body at the furious tone she'd taken this particular October. He'd faced her wrath only once before and it was just as terrifying now as it was then in that corridor before the blasted portrait. _Apologize to Harry. Take him under your wing, Sev, and get my will read. He was never supposed to go to Petunia's household._ Her voice gentled, wrapping around him like a blanket with her scent.

"How?" he asked, the wind snatching away his low question as fast as it left his mouth. "I'm no good at that sort of thing, Lily." She giggled this time, making him smile in return… at least what passed for his smile nowadays. _Ask Lucius Malfoy; even he would resent the damage done to my little boy. I am pleading with you because that is all I can do. This is the only time I have to… to change my son's life for the better. I'm sorry I let you down. You never would have joined the Death Eaters if it weren't for me._ "No, I would have. Even with your influence, Lilyflower, I couldn't stand not being powerful." _You're overthinking it again, Sev. Let it go. I am sorry I couldn't love you the way you loved me. _"Ever?" he asked, his heart clenching painfully at her sorrowful words. _No. I loved you like the brother I never had. _ Brother? The pain in his chest eased somewhat as familial love bloomed in place of his obsession with belonging in Lily's heart. "Thank you." _You're welcome, Severus. Please __**listen**__ to my son before you condemn him to James' rough personality. He's defiant because you have given him every reason to do so. Harry's in the library. Good luck._ Lily's presence lingered, giving him the courage to climb the moving staircases and confront the Potter brat. _He's not a brat, Sev. Listen with your __**heart**__ instead of your ears, you silly man._ Severus snorted lightly at her teasing. Potter sat on the window-seat, emerald eyes so similar to Lily's staring blankly out onto the grounds.

"Potter, what possessed you to stare out into space?" the sarcastic drawl was out before he could correct it.

"Imagining what it might have been like if Voldemort hadn't killed my parents, Professor." Potter snapped out, emerald eyes flashing with Lily's fire. The boy was Lily reborn in his anger; why had he never noticed this? "Going to give me detention for staring out into space when no one cares?"

"No, Potter, I am not." The surprise on the brat's-_Try Harry in place of brat, Sev. You might actually get somewhere between now and midnight.-__**Harry's**_ face was amusing, but Severus did not comment. "I've been thinking, Harry." An ebony eyebrow rose at the use of his first name. "Sit back down, Potter. You and I have a lot to talk about." He Summoned two squashy armchairs and sat across from Lily's child. "Tonight is a night when the veils thin between worlds. It is also the night your parents were murdered by the Dark Lord… Your Mother and I were friends." Harry's jaw dropped and he shut again, a suspicious look in his eyes. "Ask the mutt if you don't believe me."

"Sirius isn't a mutt! I don't want to hear anymore!"

"Not even the fact that your Mother and I grew up on the same street and that I know Petunia Dursley far more than I should?" Potter sat abruptly, muttering as he rubbed his jaw. "Yes, I knew the Evans, your grandparents, quite well. Lily and I were close from a young age and stayed friends even after we were Sorted into different Houses."

"What happened?" Pot-no, it was Harry now-asked softly, understanding in the tone.

"Your father happened; he pulled a prank that broke our friendship. She and I quit talking after Fifth year…" Severus said evenly, his voice shaking slightly.

"What did he do?"

"He used my own spell against me and humiliated me beyond return. I called your Mother a… Mudblood. I was contrite right after I did so, but your Mother did not care for my apology." Emerald eyes the exact shade of Lily's narrowed as Harry thought quietly.

"I don't think I like my Dad very much right now, Professor; Mum either. She should have at least given you another chance." Severus was surprised, to say the least. "You were best friends from the sounds of things. Why didn't she give you another?"

"I was also '_friends'_ with a large amount of soon-to-be Death Eaters." he admitted, fidgeting with his wand as he looked anywhere but at Harry.

"Oh." There was a world of enigma in that tone, that and slight disgust. "She knew all that… I know what she was doing, but it still wasn't right."

"Care to explain your theory with me? I cannot read your mind, Potter."

"Well, she was hurt that you'd call her that. Anyone would stay away from that kind of pain. If you apologized, then you had to have been genuine, right? I would've given you one; even if you were a bit of an arse, Professor."

"Language," he absently corrected before registering what Lily's child had said to him. "I think you and I should start over. My name is Severus Snape." Harry gave him a wry smile, extending his own calloused hand.

"The name's Harry Potter. Would you like to be my friend?"

"Very well, if you insist, Potter."

"Call me Harry; can I call you Sev?"

"Not yet, brat, but we'll see." he countered, a very small smile on his face.

* * *

_Thus began the odd friendship of Severus Snape and the Boy-Who-Lived. But that, my dear friends, is another story…_


End file.
